Help! We have been away for 2.5 weeks and returned to find our Fritallaria, which had been 8 inches out of the ground looking green and happy when we left, completely dead. It is now brown and devoid of any sign of life. What happened? Is there any point in digging up the tuber to have a look, and maybe replant? We are mystified, although we hear it's been very soggy and I know these plants are prone to rot, but hadn't thought two weeks of soggy weather would be so devastating.
It is probably no longer living. If you want to dig it up to find out for sure what caused the problem go for it. If you intend to plant something else there to replace it you definitely should dig it up and put it in the composting heap if you have one.
That much we figured. The question is why would it have gone from being ahealthy happy plant to being dead - any ideas?
Soil type? If you have really compacted soil or if it holds water really well and it rained that much your plant probably drowned. if that is the case and you usually receive a lot of rain you might consider a raised garden for these or building a mound of dirt and planting it that way.
Not sure which Fritillaria you have. We have Fritillaria meleagris. Common name Snake's head fritillary.They flowered in March ( or there abouts) They have produced seed and are now dying back, as they normally do. Summer dormant, they will reappear next spring. http://www.google.co.uk/images?q=Fr...sc=&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=og&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi
No ours is fritillaria Imperialis Rubra - emperor's lily - which we expected to bloom in the late spring (ie now). I suspect it was the unseasonal heavy rains. also, does anyone know if it has any objection to growing near a Lupin? Ours was rather giant this year and hung over the lily; maybe that didn't help either.
Fritillaria Imperialis., is also summer dormant. I thought you had a very mild spring in Vancouver. It may not flower the first year. Move somewhere dry for the summer. All MAY not be lost! http://www.floralfireworks.co.uk/fritillaria_767_769.htm
The information I saw on this website suggests that filtered sun was actually good for it. So it was not your other plant that caused this. Maybe it flowered early while you were gone? Dry dormancy...I agree with silver on moving it.
I am going to move it. A person at the plant centre suggested it should have flowered in early may, at which point we were still at home. So the suggestion is it simply didn't flower in its first year.
I found a Snake's-Head Fritillary in my garden. I have no idea where it came from but when it finished blooming it has died back. It also grows very close to lilies in my garden.
